SC spokesman to justice: Don’t shoot the messenger

By ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News

Published November 20, 2011 7:42pm

“Please don’t shoot the messenger." This was how Supreme Court spokesman Court Administrator Midas Marquez on Sunday answered the warning issued against him by SC Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno for supposedly “interpreting" the high court’s rulings.

Justice Sereno’s Dissenting Opinion

A day after the high court issued the TRO lifting the travel ban on the former First Couple, Supreme Court Associate Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno filed her dissenting opinion to the ruling because former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo allegedly made “inconsistent, and probably untruthful statements," about her plans to go abroad for medical treatment. President Benigno Aquino III’s first SC appointee questioned the majority’s issuance of the TRO by citing four issues. Sereno first called attention to the “very stringent rules in issuing a TRO," particularly on getting the application “verified." She pointed out in her dissent that the high court has strict regulations concerning its employees’ right to travel. She then asked, “Why is the majority not even willing to hear the government before issuing the TRO, when, in the supervision of its judiciary employees, a mere administrative officer of the Supreme Court, and not a judicial officer, may deny the right to travel?" Second, Sereno said Mrs. Arroyo had presented to the SC “inconsistent, and probably untruthful statements." Her dissenting opinion cited documents submitted by Arroyo's doctors belying her claims of threat to life. She also noted that the list of countries the former President had wanted to visit kept on changing, adding that Arroyo had even planned participating in two conferences abroad. “It seems incongruous for petitioner who has asked the Department of Justice and this Court to look with humanitarian concern on her precarious state of health, to commit herself to attend these meetings and conferences at the risk of worsening her physical condition," Sereno said. (Read more)

Marquez maintained that he only announced the SC’s majority decision that the temporary restraining order (TRO) it granted to the camp of former President and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo does not need to be suspended pending conditions set by the high court. He added that Sereno’s dissenting view that the TRO is suspended pending compliance “remains a minority view." “We should not lose sight of the fact that a dissenting opinion is just that—a dissent. The public must not be led to believe that the dissenting view is the controlling view. While it may be repeatedly publicized and broadcasted by those who agree with it, it remains a minority view," he said in a statement on Sunday. Marquez issued the statement after Sereno reminded the SC spokesperson in a dissenting opinion that “he has no authority to interpret" any of the SC’s judicial issuance. Sereno particularly chided Marquez for saying that the TRO issued by the high court on a Department of Justice (DOJ) memorandum granting its head the power to ban foreign travel and virtually allowing Mrs. Arroyo to go abroad was “already in full force and effect." The SC justice, an appointee of President Benigno Aquino III, voted against the issuance of the TRO. The other justices who dissented are Antonio Carpio, Jose Mendoza, Bienvenido Reyes, Jr., and Estela Perlas-Bernabe. Marquez added that while he “appreciates" the SC justice’s reminder, he is “fully" aware of the limits of his duties as the high court’s mouthpiece. He likewise said that he has an “obligation" to make sure that all SC issuances are properly understood by the public. “Please understand that as a spokesperson, I too have a very important obligation to the media and the public, that they clearly understand the decision of the court. The decision may not always be popular, but that is the decision of the court, taking into consideration the rule of law," he said. — MRT/KBK, GMA News

Tags: midasmarquez, supremecourt